The invention relates to a method for joining preferably flexible surface structures.
The invention relates to joining flexible surface structures by gluing. For the gluing, an adhesive mass is used which generally itself has the form of a surface structure. However, it is also conceivable that the adhesive mass should be already allocated in some other manner to one or a plurality of the surface structures to be joined.
The gluing takes place by the application of heat and pressure, the adhesive mass, plasticised by the heat, partially penetrating into the surface structures to be joined and thus effecting the bond between same. In technical jargon, this type of joining of surface structures is also referred to as laminating.
The surface structures in question are generally textile surface structures. However they can also be surface structures made of some other nonwoven material, for example foils, nets or mats. The surface structures to be joined are generally present in web form. However it is also conceivable that at least some of the surface structures should be processed already cut to size.
Devices for joining flexible surface structures are known which have a single laminating station with two circulating conveyor belts, the surface structures to be joined being conveyed between the facing bights of the conveyor belts through the laminating station. In the region of the laminating station, there is located a heating station by means of which the adhesive mass is activated and the surface structures to be joined are heated up. Following the heating station there is a pressing device, with which the surface structures to be joined are pressed together, the previously plasticised adhesive mass penetrating at least partially into the surface structures to be joined.
The known laminating stations only permit limited laminating efficiency. If greater laminating efficiency is required, a correspondingly larger and more powerful laminating station must be used whose laminating capacity is in many cases not fully exploited. This leads to uneconomic operation of laminating stations of this type.